Atkins Assessment Tests

Atkins Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a production coordinator at an events company. It is 2pm on the day of a conference. Three things need you: the client’s keynote speaker has arrived and cannot find the green room, the audio-visual crew report a microphone fault in the main hall where the keynote begins at 3pm, and your manager wants tomorrow’s crew rota confirmed by 4pm. You have one runner available to help. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Deal with the speaker and the rota yourself and leave the microphone to the audio-visual crew, since they are the specialists and it is their equipment to fix.
   2. Take the speaker to the green room yourself since the client will judge the company on how she is looked after, then deal with the microphone and the rota afterwards.
   3. Send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts.
   4. Confirm the rota first since your manager has set a 4pm deadline, then help with the microphone and ask the runner to find the speaker.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts.

   Least effective: A. Deal with the speaker and the rota yourself and leave the microphone to the audio-visual crew, since they are the specialists and it is their equipment to fix.

   A: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: the crew have reported the fault rather than fixed it, which is the signal that they need a decision or a replacement. Treating a reported problem as somebody else's job means the keynote starts without a working microphone.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: escorting a guest is the one task on the list that anyone can do, and doing it personally spends the coordinator on the job the runner exists for while a keynote microphone stays broken.

   D: Delays the decision: the rota has two hours and no audience, while the microphone has one hour and a keynote behind it. Doing the administrative task first spends the only hour that matters.

   The most effective response is to send the runner to collect the speaker, go to the main hall yourself to get the microphone fault resolved before 3pm, and confirm the rota after the keynote starts: the microphone is the only item with a hard deadline and a public failure attached, the speaker needs collecting rather than coordinating, and the rota has until 4pm. That puts each person on the job matching what they can do. It beats taking the speaker to the green room yourself, because escorting a guest is exactly what the runner is there for, and doing it personally leaves the microphone unattended. It beats confirming the rota first to meet your manager’s 4pm deadline, because the rota has two hours and no audience while the keynote has one. The least effective response is leaving the microphone to the audio-visual crew as the specialists: they have reported a fault rather than resolved it, so a decision or a replacement is needed, and treating it as theirs alone risks a keynote starting without sound in front of the client. That is worse than the other two, which misallocate the time but keep the fault in view. The principle: delegate what anyone can do, take personally the thing with the closing window and the visible consequence.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You work in the control room of a taxi firm. Drivers are paid a bonus for completing more than forty jobs a week. You notice a driver has logged three jobs this week that were cancelled by the customer before pickup, which would take him over forty. He says the customers cancelled at the door, so he drove the distance and should be credited. The firm’s rules on cancelled jobs are written and you have not read them. The operations manager is on shift. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Check the written rules on cancelled jobs, and if they do not cover doorstep cancellations put it to the operations manager before the bonus is calculated.
   2. Remove the three cancelled jobs from his total, since the jobs were not completed and the bonus is for completed work.
   3. Leave the three jobs on his total and let the bonus be paid, since he did drive to each address and nobody audits the weekly figures in any detail.
   4. Report the driver to the operations manager for logging cancelled jobs as completed work in order to reach the bonus threshold.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Check the written rules on cancelled jobs, and if they do not cover doorstep cancellations put it to the operations manager before the bonus is calculated.

   Least effective: C. Leave the three jobs on his total and let the bonus be paid, since he did drive to each address and nobody audits the weekly figures in any detail.

   B: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: the rules may well credit a driver who travelled to a doorstep cancellation, and striking the jobs out decides that without reading them.

   C: Falsifies a payment record: it lets a bonus be paid on jobs recorded as completed that were not, without checking whether the rules allow it, and relies on the absence of an audit. That is dishonesty, not a judgement call.

   D: Escalates prematurely: the written rules may entitle him to the credit, so a report of deliberate manipulation is made before the document that settles it has been read.

   The most effective response is to check the written rules on cancelled jobs, and if they do not cover doorstep cancellations put it to the operations manager before the bonus is calculated: there is a rule that decides whether such a cancellation counts, reading it costs a minute, and he is on shift and can settle it in time. It answers the question without accusing anyone. It beats removing the three cancelled jobs from his total, because that decides the same question in the driver’s disfavour without reading the rule. It beats reporting him for logging cancelled jobs as completed work, because a serious accusation before checking risks condemning him over something the rules may allow. The least effective response is leaving the three on his total because nobody audits the weekly figures: it lets a bonus be paid on incomplete jobs without any check. That is worse than the other two, which act hastily but keep the payment honest. The principle: read the rule that governs it, and take the decision to whoever owns it rather than resolving it quietly either way.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an editorial assistant at a book publisher. A cookery book is due at the printer on Friday. On Wednesday you find that the oven temperatures throughout one chapter have been converted wrongly, giving instructions that would badly overcook the dishes. Correcting and re- proofing the chapter takes two days. The author is on a book tour and hard to reach. Your commissioning editor is in the office. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the conversions yourself against the original manuscript and send the chapter to the printer on Friday as planned, noting the change for the author afterwards.
   2. Tell your commissioning editor today, showing her the chapter and that a proper correction needs two days, so she can decide about the print slot and reaching the author.
   3. Let the chapter go to the printer as it stands, since the schedule is fixed and a correction can be issued in the next printing or on the publisher's website.
   4. Keep trying to reach the author while the book proceeds towards Friday's print slot, and raise it with your editor only if you have not spoken to her by Thursday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your commissioning editor today, showing her the chapter and that a proper correction needs two days, so she can decide about the print slot and reaching the author.

   Least effective: C. Let the chapter go to the printer as it stands, since the schedule is fixed and a correction can be issued in the next printing or on the publisher's website.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: recipe temperatures are the author's work and her name is on them. Correcting a whole chapter and telling her after it has gone to print removes her from a decision about her own book.

   C: Hides the problem: it knowingly prints cooking instructions that would ruin the dishes and leaves readers to find out, relying on a future correction nobody will see. That is shipping a known defect, not a scheduling choice.

   D: Delays the decision: it spends the one remaining day chasing an author on tour, and the editor who owns the print slot learns about it with no time left to move anything.

   The most effective response is to tell your commissioning editor today, showing her the chapter and that a proper correction needs two days: the error is serious enough to matter to readers, fixing it costs two days against a Friday slot, and both the print schedule and the author relationship belong to her. She is in the office and can weigh a delayed slot against an unreachable author today. It beats correcting the conversions yourself against the manuscript and noting it for the author afterwards, because rewriting a chapter of her recipes and telling her after it has printed takes her out of a decision about her own book. It beats continuing to chase the author while the book proceeds towards Friday, because spending two days on that leaves the editor with no time to move anything. The least effective response is letting the chapter go to the printer and issuing a correction later: it prints instructions known to be wrong, which is a decision to ship a defect readers will meet in their kitchens. That is worse than correcting it yourself, which at least fixes the text, and worse than chasing the author, which at least keeps trying. The principle: when a defect forces a trade against a deadline, put it to whoever owns the deadline while there is still time to trade.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a research assistant in a university laboratory. You and a postdoctoral colleague, Wei, disagree about whether a set of anomalous results should be included in a paper being submitted next week. He wants to exclude them as experimental error; you think they are real and should be reported. The principal investigator is at a conference and reachable by email. Wei is drafting the paper now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Defer to Wei since he is more experienced and it is his paper to draft, and keep your own record of the anomalous results in case they matter later.
   2. Email the principal investigator now setting out the disagreement, since inclusion of data is her decision and the submission deadline is next week.
   3. Say nothing further and let the paper go out without the anomalous results, since Wei is confident they are experimental error and challenging him would strain a working relationship you rely on.
   4. Set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator by email before the paper is submitted.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator by email before the paper is submitted.

   Least effective: C. Say nothing further and let the paper go out without the anomalous results, since Wei is confident they are experimental error and challenging him would strain a working relationship you rely on.

   A: Prioritises the record over the outcome: a private note protects you while a paper goes out without data you believe are real, which is a question about the published science rather than about seniority.

   B: Escalates prematurely: Wei has not yet heard your reasoning in full, and taking it straight to the principal investigator at a conference makes a formal dispute of something a conversation may settle.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: it lets data you believe are real be excluded from a publication because raising it would be uncomfortable. Silence about what goes into the scientific record is a different order of wrong from raising it clumsily.

   The most effective response is to set out to Wei why you think the results are real, and if you still disagree put the question to the principal investigator before submission: whether the anomalies are error or signal is a scientific question with evidence behind it, he has not yet heard your full reasoning, and there is time to reach her. Talking first is proportionate and escalating on continued disagreement is proper. It beats emailing the principal investigator now to set out the disagreement, because doing that before he has heard the argument turns a scientific discussion into a dispute referred over his head. It beats deferring to him while keeping your own record of the anomalous results, because a private record protects you and does nothing about what is published. The least effective response is saying nothing further and letting the paper go out without them: it allows data you believe are real to be excluded because the conversation would be awkward, which is a decision about the scientific record taken for social reasons. That is worse than the other two, which handle it imperfectly but keep the question alive. The principle: argue the evidence with your colleague first, then take it to whoever owns the decision, before the work is committed.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You work in an airline contact centre. Storms have cancelled dozens of flights and you have handled distressed calls for three hours. A passenger tells you that you sound like you are reading from a script and that you clearly do not care that his family are stranded abroad. Rebooking options are limited but some exist. Your team leader is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the cancellations are weather-related, that you have been helping stranded passengers all morning and that you are doing your best for everyone.
   2. Acknowledge that his family being stranded is what matters, tell him the rebooking options that do exist, and start on whichever one he chooses.
   3. Tell him the options are extremely limited because of the weather and that there is very little the airline can do until the backlog clears.
   4. Apologise and offer to pass him to your team leader, since he is unhappy with how the call is going and may prefer to deal with someone senior.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Acknowledge that his family being stranded is what matters, tell him the rebooking options that do exist, and start on whichever one he chooses.

   Least effective: C. Tell him the options are extremely limited because of the weather and that there is very little the airline can do until the backlog clears.

   A: Personalises the conflict: it answers his criticism of you rather than the problem of his family being stranded, which invites him to argue about your manner instead of his booking.

   C: Ignores the customer's actual need: it presents the situation as hopeless when rebooking options do exist, so a passenger with a stranded family is given despair instead of the seats that are actually available.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: it hands off a rebooking you can do and makes a passenger with a stranded family queue again for a supervisor during the busiest hours.

   The most effective response is to acknowledge that his family being stranded is what matters, tell him the rebooking options that do exist, and start on whichever he chooses: some options exist, and moving straight to them answers the substance without engaging the criticism of your manner. It beats explaining that the cancellations are weather-related and that you have been helping stranded passengers all morning, because defending yourself spends the call on your performance rather than on his family. It beats offering to pass him to your team leader, because that makes him wait again for something you can do now. The least effective response is telling him the options are extremely limited and there is very little the airline can do: it says nothing can be done when options do exist, so a passenger who could have been rebooked is left believing he is stuck. That is worse than explaining the weather, which at least explains, and worse than passing him on, which at least routes him to someone. The principle: when someone criticises you under pressure, put the available options in front of them and let the criticism go unanswered.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You work in the membership office of a golf club. Members’ subscriptions are due, and a discounted rate applies to anyone who joined before 2015. A member who joined in 2018 asks you to record him as a pre-2015 member, saying he has been coming as a guest since 2012 and that nobody would ever check. He is friendly and well known at the club. The club secretary is in her office. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him you cannot change the joining date and suggest he takes it up with the club secretary himself if he believes his guest years should count.
   2. Record him at the pre-2015 rate, since he has genuinely been coming to the club since 2012 and the discount is meant to reward long- standing members.
   3. Apply the standard rate but note on his file that he has attended since 2012, so that the club can consider a discretionary discount at some point in the future.
   4. Tell him the joining date is a matter of record and you cannot change it, and offer to ask the secretary whether guest years have ever been counted towards the discount.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him the joining date is a matter of record and you cannot change it, and offer to ask the secretary whether guest years have ever been counted towards the discount.

   Least effective: B. Record him at the pre-2015 rate, since he has genuinely been coming to the club since 2012 and the discount is meant to reward long- standing members.

   A: Passes responsibility to others: the refusal is right and the handoff is thin. He has raised a question about how guest years are treated, and sending him to make his own case leaves you having merely declined.

   B: Falsifies a membership record: his joining date is a fact, and rewriting it to produce a discount he is not entitled to is dishonesty dressed as fairness. It also charges every other member for the shortfall.

   C: Delays the decision: it charges him correctly, which is right, and parks his actual question on a file note that nobody is due to read. The secretary is in her office today.

   The most effective response is to tell him the joining date is a matter of record and offer to ask the secretary whether guest years have ever counted: the date is a fact and not yours to alter, but the question underneath it is legitimate and the secretary can answer it. Refusing clearly and taking the question forward does both jobs. It beats telling him to take it up with the club secretary himself, because that refuses in the same way but leaves him to make his own case, when you are standing beside the person who decides. It beats applying the standard rate and noting on his file that he has attended since 2012, because a note for future consideration answers nobody today, and the secretary is available now. The least effective response is recording him at the pre-2015 rate: it rewrites a factual record to create an entitlement that does not exist, and the reasoning offered, that he has been around a long time, is exactly the reasoning that makes small falsifications feel reasonable. That is worse than the other two, which charge him correctly. The principle: refuse to alter a record, then take the fair question underneath it to the person who can actually decide it.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You work in an HR shared service team. It is Wednesday. Three things are outstanding: a new starter’s contract must go out today or she cannot begin on Monday, a manager wants a report on absence figures by Friday, and a colleague has asked you to review her draft policy whenever you have time. The contract takes an hour, the report three hours. You have five hours left today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work through all three in the order they were asked for, and let your manager know at the end of the day if anything has not been finished.
   2. Start the absence report because it is the longest job, then do the contract at the end of the day once the bulk of the report is behind you.
   3. Do the contract and the policy review first because they are the two shorter jobs, then start the absence report and continue it tomorrow morning.
   4. Send the new starter's contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague you will review her policy tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Send the new starter's contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague you will review her policy tomorrow.

   Least effective: A. Work through all three in the order they were asked for, and let your manager know at the end of the day if anything has not been finished.

   A: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: the contract is the one item that cannot slip, and reporting at the end of the day is after the point at which anyone could rescue it. Reporting a missed deadline once it is missed is not communication.

   B: Delays the decision: it leaves an hour-long task with a today-or- never deadline to the end of a five-hour day, so any overrun on the report costs the new starter her start date.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: it fits the favour in ahead of a report with a named Friday deadline, and pushes three hours of work into a day that already has other demands.

   The most effective response is to send the new starter’s contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague the policy review waits until tomorrow: only the contract has a deadline of today with a consequence attached, a start date, and it takes one of the five hours available. That leaves four hours for a three-hour report due Friday, and the policy review has no deadline at all. It beats starting the absence report first because it is the longest job, since that puts a fixed, unrecoverable deadline behind an open-ended one. It beats doing the contract and the policy review first as the two shorter jobs, because that fits an unscheduled favour ahead of a report with a stated deadline. The least effective response is working through all three in the order they were asked for and reporting at the end of the day: it works to the order things were asked in rather than to their deadlines, and reports the failure only once the new starter’s Monday cannot be saved. That is worse than the other two, which sequence badly but at least do the contract today. The principle: identify the task that cannot slip, do it first, and say early which of the others will move.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an administrator at a driving school. Instructors record their lesson hours on timesheets, which the school uses to invoice pupils. You notice that one instructor has recorded a two-hour lesson for a pupil who cancelled, and you know the pupil cancelled because you took the call. The instructor says the pupil cancelled too late to rebook the slot, so the time is chargeable. The school’s policy on late cancellations is written and you have read it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Amend the timesheet yourself to remove the lesson, since the pupil did not receive a lesson and the invoice would otherwise be wrong.
   2. Check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting before the invoice goes out.
   3. Process the timesheet as submitted, since the instructor knows the late-cancellation rules better than you do and the pupil will probably not query a single lesson.
   4. Report the entry to the school owner as a possible false claim, since you took the cancellation call and the lesson definitely did not take place.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting before the invoice goes out.

   Least effective: C. Process the timesheet as submitted, since the instructor knows the late-cancellation rules better than you do and the pupil will probably not query a single lesson.

   A: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: the late- cancellation policy may well make the slot chargeable, and altering an instructor's timesheet without speaking to him decides a question you have not checked.

   C: Passes responsibility to others: it invoices a pupil for a lesson that did not happen on the strength of the instructor's say-so, and relies on the pupil not noticing. Deferring to him does not make the charge correct.

   D: Escalates prematurely: the written policy may make the slot chargeable, so a claim of falsification is made before the one document that settles it has been read.

   The most effective response is to check what the written late-cancellation policy says, and if it does not cover this, tell the instructor the entry needs correcting: the policy decides whether a late cancellation is chargeable, reading it takes a minute, and if it does not cover this then he is the person to correct it. It settles the facts before anyone is accused of anything. It beats reporting the entry to the school owner as a possible false claim, because calling it that before reading the policy risks accusing a colleague of dishonesty over something the rules permit. It beats amending the timesheet yourself to remove the lesson, because that decides the same question without checking, in the opposite direction. The least effective response is processing the timesheet as submitted because the instructor knows the rules better: it invoices a pupil for a lesson that did not happen without checking the policy at all, on the basis that she probably will not query it. That is worse than the other two, which act hastily but do not let an unverified charge reach a customer. The principle: read the rule that settles it, then take the correction to the person who made the entry.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You work behind the counter at a community pharmacy. A regular customer collects her repeat prescription and, back at the counter two minutes later, says the box contains 28 tablets but her prescription is for 56 and she has none left at home. The dispensing record on screen shows 56 issued. The pharmacist is with a patient in the consultation room and will be free in about ten minutes. The customer is due at work and is becoming anxious. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the computer record shows 56 tablets were issued, so the second box must be at home or in her bag, and suggest she checks there before coming back to the pharmacy.
   2. Take a second box of 28 from the shelf and hand it over so she is not late for work, then tell the pharmacist what you have done when she comes out of the consultation room.
   3. Apologise, take her details and the box, tell her the pharmacist will check the dispensing within ten minutes, and ask her to wait or take a call at work so nothing is guessed at.
   4. Tell her the pharmacy cannot look into it while the pharmacist is busy and ask her to come back tomorrow when the counter is quieter and someone can go through the records properly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Apologise, take her details and the box, tell her the pharmacist will check the dispensing within ten minutes, and ask her to wait or take a call at work so nothing is guessed at.

   Least effective: D. Tell her the pharmacy cannot look into it while the pharmacist is busy and ask her to come back tomorrow when the counter is quieter and someone can go through the records properly.

   A: Acts on assumptions without checking: the record shows what was meant to be issued, not what went into the bag, and treating the screen as proof sends a customer with no tablets left home to look for a box that may not exist.

   B: Breaches confidentiality or process: handing out prescription medicine without the pharmacist checking the dispensing is not yours to do, and a ten-minute wait is not a reason to bypass the one control that catches a dispensing error.

   D: Ignores the customer's actual need: she has no tablets left and a ten-minute wait was available. Sending her away untreated overnight to suit the counter's convenience is a service failure of a different kind from the other options, which at least try to resolve it today.

   The most effective response is to apologise, take her details, and tell her the pharmacist will check the dispensing within ten minutes: it takes the complaint seriously, puts the one person qualified to check it on the job, and still gives the customer a way to get to work. It beats quoting the computer record and suggesting she looks at home, because the dispensing record shows the intention, not the contents of the bag, so repeating it back to her settles nothing and puts the burden of proof on the customer. It beats handing her a second box of 28 yourself, because the pharmacist’s check is exactly the control that catches a short dispense, and skipping it to save ten minutes risks compounding one error with another. The least effective response is telling her to come back tomorrow when the counter is quieter: it is the only response that leaves a customer with no medication overnight when a qualified check was ten minutes away, and it does so for the pharmacy’s convenience rather than any clinical reason. That is worse than quoting the record, which at least offers her a next step, and worse than handing over a second box, which errs by trying too hard to help. The principle: when a customer has a genuine need and the right check is minutes away, make the check happen rather than deferring or bypassing it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a duty assistant at a gym. A member tells you the emergency stop cord on one of the treadmills does not seem to work. You test it and the belt does not stop. The gym is busy, six other treadmills are working, and the maintenance contractor is not on site. Your duty manager is in the building and reachable on the radio. There is no out-of-order signage kept on the gym floor. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Note the fault in the maintenance logbook so it is picked up at the contractor's next scheduled visit, and mention it to your duty manager at the end of your shift.
    2. Ring the maintenance contractor yourself to ask how soon someone can attend and what should be done with the treadmill until then.
    3. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.
    4. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Take the treadmill out of use immediately, make it obvious it must not be used, and radio your duty manager straight away so she can arrange the repair and proper signage.

    Least effective: D. Leave the treadmill in use, since the belt can still be stopped with the console button and six other treadmills are available if a member would rather not use that one.

    A: Delays the decision: the logbook is the right record and the wrong speed. It leaves a treadmill with no working emergency stop available to members for the rest of the day.

    B: Acts on assumptions without checking: the contractor's answer is useful and the decision about whether members may use a machine with no emergency stop belongs to your duty manager, who is in the building now.

    D: Stays silent about a known safety risk: you have confirmed the emergency stop does not work and leave the machine open to members anyway, with nobody told. That is a safety failure, not a judgement about priorities.

    The most effective response is to take the treadmill out of use immediately and radio your duty manager: an emergency stop that does not work on a moving belt is a safety fault, so the machine comes out of use first, and she is in the building and is the person who can arrange both signage and the contractor. It beats noting the fault in the maintenance logbook for the contractor’s next scheduled visit, because that records it for a future visit while members carry on using the machine today. It beats ringing the maintenance contractor yourself, because they can say when they will come but cannot decide whether the gym may keep a machine with no emergency stop in service; that is the duty manager’s call and she is thirty seconds away on the radio. The least effective response is leaving the treadmill in use because the belt can still be stopped with the console button: it is the only response that leaves a confirmed safety fault in service and tells nobody, on the reasoning that members have alternatives. That is worse than the other two, which are too slow but do report it. The principle: make a safety fault safe first, then tell the person on site who can decide what happens next.